“No winter lasts forever No spring skips its turn.”

- Hal Borland

Harold "Hal" Glen Borland (May 14, 1900 – February 22, 1978) was a well known American author, journalist and naturalist. In addition to writing many non-fiction and fiction books about the outdoors, he was a staff writer and editorialist for The New York Times. -Wikipedia

Signs of Spring Around My Garden

Photography by: Misty Florez

Heleborus ‘Pink Frost’ Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’

Martagon Lily ‘Manitoba Morning’ I forgot!!! Let you know when Persian Lily ‘Fritillaria persica’ it blooms.

USDA Zone: 6 Sunset Zone: 34

Historical April Averages (weather.com) 58 High/36 Low/4.47” Precipitation

End of Winter Cheer

by: Erica Draezn

Winter season are some of the longest and is a hardest month for gardeners. Most trees are bare—or worse yet, still

full of dead brown leaves. You realize that you should have done one last clean up of the perennial beds- because the

old stocks are peaking above the snow. It is too soon to start seeds for the season.

What do gardeners do? In Winchester they hang hearts. If you have driven though Winchester in February, you have

seen them—colorful sewn hearts hanging from the trees. One great example is in front of the Church of the

Epiphany, but others are scattered throughout the town. The originator of the tradition was Helene Cabour who lived

at 10 Bacon Street. Helene was a quilter and she always attached a little sewn heart to her completed quilts. She

moved on to larger hearts and hung them on a tree in front of her house—and the numbers grew every year. One

sweet addition to the story is that Helene’s birthday is February 14th!

When Helene sold her house, the hearts came with it, and they still appear every year. Nancy Hagge, who lived

nearby, got permission from Helene to carry on the tradition after Helene moved out of town. Nancy spread the

tradition to other homes in Winchester and now it is far and wide— including Brooksby Village where Helene now

lives, Concord and Sudbury, MA, Potomac Maryland, and Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This doesn’t stop at Valentines,

we also see green hearts on St Patrick’s day, and pastel hearts at Easter. Everyone is welcome to join the effort and

spread some cheer

Our Favorite Plants

Submissions Collected by: Erica Draezn

Have plants that you enjoy indoor and if you love reading this section of the Host Newsletter consider contributing. Keep them coming email Erica at erica@drazenhome.com

Misty Florez

Maranta Prayer Plant ‘Lemon Lime’ (Photography: Misty Florez)

I bought the plant first and then looked up that the Maranta is native to Brazil and tropical zones 11 - 12. It has

adapted to be a successful houseplant preferring bright indirect light and constant temperatures between 70-90

degrees. Care is simple as long as you can remember not to let this plant dry. I was drawn to the beautiful coloring

and pattern of the foliage and purchased this plant last month at Mahoney’s Garden Center. Not sure why I find that

my outdoor gardening success hadn’t completely translated to my indoor plants, but I’m determined to keep at it.

Your Favorite Spring Photos

Submissions Collected by: Misty Florez

Spring is around the corner. We love to see and share your favorite spring photos in our upcoming newsletters.

Email photos and description to Misty at mistyfloral@yahoo.com by Monday, May 10th

Share Your Recommendations

Submissions Collected by: Erica Draezn

Have catalogs, websites and or brick and mortar shops that you buy from and want to spread the word about places

you recommend. Tell us!! Keep them coming email Erica at erica@drazenhome.com

Garden Website & Pod Cast

Recommendation by: Misty Florez

Margaret Roach for 25 years was a leading garden writers for Martha Stewart’s Living. She has written several books

and hosts a weekly pod cast that I happen to stumble upon over the winter. Every Sunday morning I get the email

that a new pod cast is available and enjoy listening to the 20 minute garden discussions she has with Ken Druce.

Below is a link to an archive to hundreds of her pot casts available for Free on iTunes.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-way-to-garden-with-margaret/id370801678

Lasagna Gardening

by: Linda Bartol Ever heard of lasagna garden? It's a process where you do not dig down, but build up. First

layer is paper bags then you layer dirt, leaves, compost, etc, but you can plant right through the paper and just

continue to add to the top. Have a friend who used this method along a fence with catmint and it worked nicely -

She still is adding mulch onto the top layer; the idea is that everything will rot and make wonderful compost. I am

going to try it for small area and will start by using the shredding from my shredder.

Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts

Horticulture Morning - March 27th with Jamie Colen Photography & Written by: Misty Florez Last summer after attending my first Horticulture Morning Program the Garden Club Federation of MA asked me to

help chair the Program. I am excited to represent Winchester Home & Garden Club by volunteering for the

Federation. My role as Horticulture Mornings Chair is to coordinate 3 lectures throughout the year. On Tuesday,

March 27th our Horticulture Morning program hosted it’s 2nd lecture and featured Jamie Colen, the garden director

at Fuller Garden’s in Rye, New Hampshire. The Espousal Center in Waltham was jam packed with 57 attendees from

22 different clubs around the state. His presentation was very interactive. While he shared some wonderful slides

and knowledge about gardening he also answered questions from the audience. Coming to these programs I always

walk away learning something new! A special thank you to Rose Beecher and Fluer Hynes from our club and a new

friend Kathy Leva for helping me on my committee to sign in attendees, sell opportunity drawing tickets set-up the

coffee and finger foods. I was fully backed by the wealth of support from GCFM President Suzanne McCance and

Vice President Bonnie Rosenthall. Not only do I get to learn more gardening I’m gaining new friends. Thank you, Mahoney’s Garden Center in Winchester for donating a $100.00 gift certificate to sponsor the

program.

Ann Curran Winner $100 Mahoney’s Gift Certificate